The Sleep Whisperer

We have been fortunate that The Little Monkey has always been a pretty good sleeper. Since about eight months old he has settled down into a pattern of falling asleep at about 7pm, waking at 6:30am, naptime from 10:30-1:30 daily. Big Monkey and I have each had our different "specialties". BM is good at bathtime, diaper changes, playtime, and just about everything else, but my "specialty" is sleeptime. For some reason, I've always been able to get him to go to sleep.

Last night was an especially satisfying experience. LM awoke at 2:45 am screaming. BM offered to go in so, I told him just pat his back and say good night and walk out the room. Well, of course BM lingered, which made LM want to play and when BM finally did leave, there was much screaming and jumping to continue. So, I went in, tucked him in like a burrito (my special move), patted his back, turned on his music, and whispered "Beunos Noches", and it was complete quiet, and he fell asleep immediately until 7am!

How awesome am I! I was actually pretty proud of myself and my parenting skills. It made start thinking about those few and far between times when something goes just right and how great that makes you feel as a parent. Last weekend, LM was playing in a cardboard box, taking items out of it and putting them back in. He fell out of the box and, I could tell he hurt himself. He started to whimper a bit and looked at me as if to determine if he should start a full-on wail. I immediately said "You're ok... you're not hurt... put your things back in the box..." AND.... he did just that! No crying, no screaming, he just got up and put his things back in the box. Even my father remarked that I handled it well. That was a great moment in parenting!

It was such a nice feeling to have it go textbook. Unfortunately, that doesn't happen everyday so when it does, I totally savor the moment.